more great news from woolies (Woolworths)

Member Name: balfury

Product:	Woolworths
Date:	10/08/08 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: what you want when you want it

Disadvantages: messy and lack of staff

Woolworths (shop)
History.
F W Woolworth & Co, Ltd was founded by Frank Woolworth in 1909 in Liverpool.
The store was a huge success gathering large queues outside. Items were priced at 3d (1.25p) and 6d (2.5p), before the end of the first day shelves were all but stripped bare. In 1982, Woolworths was acquired by Paternoster Stores Ltd of Kingfisher plc. Following a demerger from kingfisher woolworths traded as woolworths group PLC as of August 28, 2001. Woolworths now has 800+ stores spanning the country.

Woolworths group PLC.
The group comprises of many stores owned by woolworths
2 Entertain is a joint venture by the BBC and woolworths and produces such DVDs as Doctor who and top gear
E.U.K (Entertainment U.K) is a hugely successful wholesale unit, the supply woolworths, Asda, WH smith, Morrisons, virgin and various other stores with CDs, DVD's, Games, Books and Mobile phones.
Bertram and THE are the most recent acquisition by woolworths group, Both Bertrams and THE are books wholesalers and mostly supply libraries, Woolworths group merged the to companies into Bertrams group.
Woolworths own branded products.
Chad valley was launched in 1991 as an own branded toy development, the toys are primarily for children under the age of 8. The Chad valley brand dates back to 1960 before woolworths acquired it in 1988. The toys are generally considered to be of very good quality.
Ladybird is a brand of children's wear for children aged 0-16 years, its exclusive to woolwoths although there are specific Ladybird stores that sell only the clothing these are also owned by woolwoths. Ladybird dates back to 1938 and become the sole property of woolworths in 2001. Recently the ladybird name has been lent to baby's toys, potties, car seats and other baby accessories.
Worth It! Is woolwoths entry brand products similar to that of tesco's value range. It offers a range of products that are very cheap in price but perhaps not the best of quality
Woolworths also sell a whole host of products under their own name usually located next to the same branded product at a lower price.

Layout.
Throughout the 800+ stores there are many variations, the exception big stores have had refits (20/20) and are spacious and have very bright colours. Around a quarter of all stores have had the new 10/10 Refit which also have bright colours and a new fishbone layout with a red walkway through the store that should take you to every department in the store. Some of the older stores that have not had a refit in a while share a tired worn out theme. These stores usually have a less than appealing store front and are dirty or even falling apart in places. Generally its easy to find the products you want, all entertainment items will be located around the entertainment cash desk. Home wares will be located somewhere at the back along with stationary and clothing. Toys and cards take the middle and woolies seem to have a fortnightly changing store front that seems to change to whatever is popular or on promotion at the time (in the night garden or their worth it products or sale toys)
Seasons.
Woolworths changes its layout due to seasons, at xmas time your going to find many more toys, wrap, decorations and cards but less stationary, home wares and clothing. During Summer you will find more Gardening, Stationary (for back to school) and toys but less home wares, clothing and confectionary. You also see that they are heavily involved in special days such as fathers/mothers day, valentines day, Halloween and Easter. You will usually find products for the events at the front of the store.

The big red book.
Woolworths embarked on a new project referred to as the big red book, it's a catalogue for customers to take home and browse through. Generally they release four of these a year and they co-inside with the seasons. The idea behind it is that woolworths have so many more products to offer than what you see in store. The principal is that you decide on the item you want and you can either order it at a till point (knows as the in store ordering system ISO), via telephone or over the web. You then have a choice if you want the item delivered home (£4.95 charge) or to store to pick up at a later date (free). You pay for the item there and then and that guarantees the price will not go up by the time it arrives in store (usually 5-7days)
Refund Procedure.
Woolworths will exchange or refund the price paid for any item bought from a Woolworths store if it is returned unused, as sold, with the original packaging and within 28 days of purchase (or within 14 days for some products as listed below). This is subject to the following conditions:
Mobile Phones will only be refunded within 14 days, after 14 days we will refer customers to the appropriate network (unless they are faulty). iPod's will only be refunded within 14 days of purchase, after 14 days we will refer customers to Apple (unless they are faulty).
Confectionery and other food items, flowers and other perishable items, any items which are personalised or made to your particular requirements and certain items of jewellery cannot be exchanged or refunded (unless they are faulty).
You must provide proof of purchase (sales receipt, credit / debit card slip or bank or credit card statement identifying the transaction with Woolworths).
All refunds will be provided using the same method of payment as your purchase. If the purchase was made using a credit / debit card, the same card must be used for the refund.
We may ask for identification (proof of address) to help combat fraud.
We reserve the right to refuse an exchange or refund with or without proof of purchase.

What they sell.
Woolworths sell everything from greetings cards to can openers they really operate in diversity. What they sell is broken down into departments.
Home wares include glassware, cutlery, linen and domestic appliances
Stationary includes Pens, Lunchboxes, party accessories and photo albums.
Toys are separated into boys, girls, pre school and board games.
Confectionary includes standard bar lines, boxed chocolates, crisps, pick'n'mix and drinks
Entertainment sells books, CD's DVD's, Games and mobile phones.
Clothing is separated into baby, girls and boys.
Woolies also sell loads of little bit s that don't necessarily fit into a department so you will find them latched onto other departments such as baby bottles will be in clothing.
There are also seasonal departments such as Christmas, Easter and summer gardening/outdoor.
Why I like Woolworths.
9 times out of 10 when I want something woolies is the first place I try because usually they will have it at a good price. With a few minor exceptions (worth it vacuum cleaner mentioned in another review) I am very pleased with the introduction of the Worth it value range, it allows me to purchase everyday essentials at a really low price (picked up a toilet brush and some liquorice allsorts the other day for under £1). When ever there is a CD or DVD coming out Woolies id the place I pre order it as their prices are usually very good. They have always refunded products without arguments on the few occasions I do have a problem. a few times I have returned unused items after the 28 days and they have still allowed an exchange. If they don't have something I want I can order it at the till point as long as I'm in no urgent need for it.

What I don't like.
The stores I visit are very tired and dated, they are usually very messy with products all over the pace. They seem to be grossly understaffed and on weekends particularly the staff seem despondent and unwilling to help (the reason I shop during the week when I can)
Summary.
Woolworths is a great all-round value shop, I'm sure what they sell is sold cheaper elsewhere but you would have to go to 3 of for different shops to get what you want, so for the sake of saving some time (something which I seem to lack a lot of during the day) I will quite happily spend a few more pennies. Woolies also sells the same Candy king pick'n'mix as any of the big cinemas for half the price so its always woth taking a trip to woolies and stocking up before the film.


I also have thisreview on ciao.

Summary: a good general store